


An Abundance of Lokis

by ApolloAttraction



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6431005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloAttraction/pseuds/ApolloAttraction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s one incarnation of Loki that never gets the spotlight, and even Loki has to wonder what happened to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Abundance of Lokis

 

 “ _La tour Eiffel a quatre pieds, La tour Eiffle a quatre pieds,”_ Loki mumbles the comptine under his breath as he paces Noh-Varr's ship.

Billy looks up from the runes he's studying, “Is that French?”

Loki stills, not consciously knowing what he'd been singing. “Is it?” He shrugs. “I lived there for a while.” 

“And you can speak it?” Billy asks, more out of a desire to stop his study for a moment than anything else. 

“Like English or anything else,” Loki replies cheekily. “Did you want help on your homework?”

Billy snorts and goes back to translating the runes Loki had given him to learn from.

Loki goes back to pacing, though he doesn't go back to humming the child's song. In his mind, he looks plainly at the ghostly conscience of the other Loki- the sin that won't be forgiven- and asks: “Do we still know French?”

“We speak with the All-tongue,” his conscience answers as it crosses its arms over its chest.

Loki stares at him, “Oh, yes, fine,  _be_ obtuse. If we didn't speak with the All-Tongue, then would we know French?”

The ghost of Loki past shrugs and turns away.

Loki frowns, “Oh, I see, we don't talk about  _that_ one,  _do_ we? The one that  _you_ replaced.”

“He was always me,” the conscience protests.

“Was he?” Loki bites back.

He's drawn out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” Kate asks him.

“No,” he whines, drawing it out. “We've been on this ship for days and I am _starving_.”

Kate laughs at him, reminds him that they do have food (even if he says it's not good food,) and Loki abandons his thoughts about past lives.

+

It's raining in New York as he stares out the window of the apartment and scrutinizes the streets. He loves New York (there's no better thing than Broadway, to be sure,) but he finds himself pining for streets that he hasn't walked in a very long time. He wonders- not for the first time, and certainly not for the last- what happened to Serrure?

He never gives a second thought to Luke, but Serrure? He  _dwells_ on Serrure.

Did he go through ego-death? Like the Lokis before him? Was he truly part of the Kid Loki whose body this Loki had stolen? He has memories, certainly, of running through Paris- talking to friends and swindling tourists. But they exist in a fog; they're constantly overshadowed by the memories Thor had returned to him of the Old Loki.

He feels bitter as he thinks of it. Serrure was a child who had lived and grown and while yes, some of the things he did were criminal- he never killed anyone or destroyed worlds. He didn't even have the capacity to wreak the havoc and destruction that his past selves had. And now, as Loki sits in Verity's apartment, knowing the future that sits waiting for him in the All-Mother's dungeon, he can't help but wonder if Serrure was his only chance to escape the vicious cycle of pain and destruction that all Lokis seem tied to. His only chance, he thinks, and he didn't even get a choice in ruining it (like every other chance.)

He scoffs to himself just as Verity returns to the living room with hot chocolate for him. “What are you thinking about?” she asks.

“Death,” Loki says honestly- bitterly- as he takes the mug from her.

“Is that even a thing for you?” She jokes, referencing his many reincarnations.

He shrugs and looks pensively into the cup. “I don't know. I think I died once.”

She goes silent and still. “Loki-”

He moves on, quickly, “Anyway, I _know_ you're still mad at me for flexing the truth-”

“Lying by omission,” she corrects.

“Yes, that,” Loki says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I thought I could buy you dinner.”

“In this weather?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, well,” he grins, “There's better weather in L.A.”

+

“Death and rebirth and redeath and birth,” Agent Loki says as though it's the most tedious thing he's ever been through. “Makes me wonder why I didn't actually, permanently opt out of Ragnarok.” 

The two Lokis in front of him stare. “You...did...opt out.” Siege Loki tells him hesitantly, then anger starts to build on his face, “You opted out of  _EVERYTHING!_ ”

“I didn't _opt out_ -” Agent Loki starts, only to be interrupted by Kid Loki.

“You didn't end the _story_ ,” Kid Loki says, sounding heart broken.

“Didn't you already win, Kid?” Agent Loki asks. “Dying yourself and all, right? That's what you said-”

“Yes, but-” Kid Loki starts.

Agent Loki cuts him off, “I just chose a different option; I never opted out. Another one of us- A new story.” He grins, very satisfied with himself. The other two Lokis look exasperated with him. His grin shrinks to a smile and he asks softly: “What do you think the new me is like? Do you think he's good?”

“Are we ever?” Siege Loki retorts bitterly.

There's a green mist in front of them and the pillar returns, but there's no crown on it this time. Agent Loki frowns and says sadly, “That was fast...”

The Loki in front of them looks identical to Agent Loki, but is dressed in King Loki's clothes- and, notably, he looks happy as he steps before them. Until he sees the pillar, that is, then he snorts and says, “Right, I'm not going through the 'choose your fate' gimmick for a third time. I  _get it_ already. Death and rebirth and redeath and birth and death and bleh.”

“Oh, it's _you_ ,” Agent Loki says, smile somewhat returning.

“This place is crowding over with unruly youth,” Siege Loki comments and disappears with a wave of his hand.

“Speak for yourself,” Kid Loki says to the empty space beside him, “You're all old to me.” And with that quip he disappears so that Agent Loki and King Loki are the only ones left in the field of their consciousness.

Agent Loki looks at King Loki expectantly. “How is he? The new us, I mean.”

King Loki smiles, “The same, but she's got potential.” He pulls a picture out of his pocket. “Between your death and her rebirth, she did this.”

Agent Loki stares at the photo. It's a young man standing with a young woman, both of them are grinning in caps and gowns and holding diplomas. The young man's face is similar to his own, but there's an innocence there that few Lokis have ever had the chance to know. “Is this-?” Agent Loki flips the photo over and reads the names Leigh and  _Serrure_ .

King Loki smiles softly, “Yes. Loki, Goddess of stories, took time between our death and her birth to rewrite his story. We stole his body, but Thor freed it. He was eventually adopted by a woman named Helen and lived with her and her daughter, Leigh; they both just graduated high school.”

“Those are two very different time lines; there's no way it's true,” Agent Loki says with a frown.

“It's true somewhere,” King Loki assures him.

Agent Loki smiles, turns the picture over, and stares at Serrure. “Alright.” He puts the picture into his back pocket. “I think we've got a chance, finally.”

“We'll see how she does,” King Loki replies. “Now where were the other two off to?”

“Honestly, no idea. I kind of figured we all just disappeared except to nag at the new one.” Agent Loki replies with a grin.

“Want to go nag her?” King Loki asks and a mischievous spark comes to his eyes.

“Not until she gets _here_ ,” Agent Loki tells him and takes him by the arm. “Let's see if this place has any decent bacon.”

King Loki laughs as they walk through the field until their forms disappear into the mist. It would be a long, long time before the pillar ever reappeared. And then, when it did- the Goddess of Stories would have a way of writing herself back into the narrative. 

 

 


End file.
